Zachery Wester Busted And Charged

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It Takes Nine Months to Bring Down One Corrupt Cop, 14,000 work hours, 10 State Investigators — What Are We Celebrating?

Disgraced Jackson County Deputy Zach
Wester was finally arrested, this Wednesday, after months-long investigations. Wester was
arrested and charged with 52 counts all in, apart from the racketeering charge
others include official misconduct, false imprisonment, fabricating evidence
and possession of a controlled substance. He was also charged with misdemeanor
charges of perjury, possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug
paraphernalia.

Former Deputy Zach Wester was fired
last October, after initial suspension in August. Zach has been planting drugs
on unsuspecting motorists and hauling them off to jail. This went on for a
while before rumors hit the courthouse and an internal investigation was kicked
off. During the internal investigation, deputies searching his patrol car found
42 pieces of drug paraphernalia, ten baggies of methamphetamine and five
baggies of marijuana concealed in an unmarked and unsecured evidence bag in the
trunk.

Officers who brought him in wrote in their arrest affidavit, “The multiple items located were consistent with and similar in appearance to, items believed to have been used to fabricate evidence during (his) traffic stops and arrests.”

Given the scope of Zach’s racket, it
took Florida’s Department of Law enforcement (FDLE) more than nine months to
pin him down and finally arrest him in Crawfordville. He chose to remain silent
and didn’t speak to the agents of FDLE, for now, Zach will be held in Wakulla
County Jail to await his trial. And yes, there’s no bail for him.

Sheriff ‘disheartened’ by Deputy’s Actions

Jackson County Sheriff Lou Roberts,
State Attorney William “Bill” Eddins of the 1st Judicial Circuit and Chris
Williams, Special Agent in charge of the FDLE’s Pensacola office, discussed the
baffling case on Thursday, after the arrest. One of Wester’s alleged victims,
Teresa Odom, wept as they discussed details of the case.

“I’m overwhelmed,” she said
afterward, adding she was proud of one of the FDLE agents who worked with her
during the investigation.

Sheriff Roberts thanked the
community for their patience during the investigation, even though, the
community has repeatedly voiced their concern over the prolonged investigation.
He explained the delay was caused by Hurricane Michael, and how “disheartening”
the deputy’s actions were.

“No agency wants to go through this
kind of situation and face the embarrassment of the public. This is a very
serious matter,” said Roberts, who’ll be seeking re-election next year. “We’re
supposed to set higher standards, and the allegations that were made in this
case will be tried.”

The Investigation Continues

Williams emphasized that the case
was still open and public can call FDLE’s Pensacola office if they have any
information about Wester’s exploits.

“FDLE has assigned a team of 10
special agents and two crime analysts who have logged over 1,400 hours on this
case already. And it’s still ongoing today.” Explained Williams, while
declining to speak of any further details about the investigation.

Unidentified items can be seen in Wester’s body cam footage

The investigation found that former deputy Wester would routinely pull over citizens for minor traffic infractions and then proceed to plant drugs on their person or vehicle. This gave Wester the pretext to arrest his baffled prey on trumped-up charges. Wester also played fast and loose with his body cam, turning it off before drugs were located or turning it on just after they were found.

“There is no question that Wester’s
crimes were deliberate and that his actions put innocent people in jail,”
Williams said.

Christina Pumphrey, a former
assistant state attorney in Marianna who helped bring Wester’s alleged misdeeds
to light, said she was “incredibly surprised” to learn of his arrest
because she didn’t think he’d ever get charged.

“I’m glad he’s off the road,” she said. “I’m glad he’s obviously facing charges. It doesn’t change what the rest of the people went through because of him. It doesn’t give them their time back. It doesn’t give them their money back. It doesn’t expunge their records — they still have at least arrest histories. But it’s still something.”

Christina Pumphrey, Former Assistant State Attorney

The investigation led to the review of over 300 cases in which Wester was involved, later these were brought down to 120. Eddins said there’s no indication Wester planted drugs or fabricated arrests in all of those cases. He noted that the charges against Wester are based on his arrests of 11 different people.

Wester’s Victims — Now His Comeuppance

Teresa Odom, who was present at the
press conference, was arrested last year by Wester. Her charges were dropped
after allegations against Wester came to light. Another one of his alleged
victims, Benjamin Bowling, was arrested in 2017 on charges of possession of
methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia, according to the arrest affidavit.

Wester claimed he smelled marijuana
in the vehicle, though Bowling, a passenger, and the driver denied doing drugs.
But Wester persisted and insisted despite Bowling telling him he’d been clean
since an earlier DUI arrest and he was being tested regularly after gaining
custody of his daughter.

To share the extent of Wester’s depravity, Bowling volunteered for the drug test and asked for DNA verification of the drugs found in his vehicle plus requesting the video from Wester’s body cam. In spite of his protests, Bowling lost his daughter’s custody after the arrest.

Wester now faced a maximum penalty
of 30 years in state prison for the racketeering charge. The other felonies
carry maximum sentences of five years. Eddins said that under Florida’s
sentencing guidelines, Wester could face 13 and a half years in prison if
convicted on all charges, though a judge could opt to give him more
time behind bars.

You know, we hear all the time about “a few bad apples” all the time, as if rest of the law enforcement is completely free from blame. Wester had partners, he had colleagues, he worked with prosecutors and for my palate, it took one life too many to be wrecked before office gossip sparked this investigation which led to his demise. A “few bad apples” is not a defense, the Unions and prosecutors saying that should learn the whole proverb – “one bad apple spoils the whole bunch”.